


Heathens

by HuntressInSilver



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, It's gonna take some time before yoosung shows up, M/M, MintEye, Multi, Polyamory, Smut, Threesome - F/M/M, mc is with the bad guys, references to yoosung's route, yoosung joins minteye
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-01-07 16:27:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12236508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuntressInSilver/pseuds/HuntressInSilver
Summary: What if that prologue bad ending wasn't an ending, but just the beginning of it all?





	1. Meeting The Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! just a little thing: it's not really like the title matters with the story, more like the lyrics of Heathens by Twenty One Pilots reminded me of this story, and I couldn't find a title for my work so.... yeah. Also, I haven't really finished the game, I still have to play the secret endings and V's route, so, if there's something wrong it's probably because I don't know it yet, sorry. Hope you'll enjoy the story anyway!

"Sorry, but you'll have to come with me." He said in that digitally modified voice he was using. "I could just get rid of you..."

He sighed. "But that'd be a shame. You're so cute. You can be my assistant."

I widened my eyes. This guy had just showed up, a complete stranger who had apparently tricked me into intruding another stranger's house, only to claim 'he could just get rid of me' or suggesting that I become his assistant after I had just blown his plan.

"Right..." He kept talking as if he was deep in thought, forgetting I was even there. "He said he has an assistant. I'd like one too."

Who was he talking about now?

"Should I use... you?" He said, finally acknowledging my presence again.

I crossed my arms, irritated, and was about to snap at him, saying something like: "I'm not something to _use_ , y'know?", when he talked again.

"Come here." His voice, somehow, sounded kind of reassuring, warmer than before. I'm saying 'somehow' 'cause it was still a machine-like voice, not human.

"I'll be good to you. Come with me."

The way he looked at me, the way his voice seemed to be telling me not to worry, that he would, in fact, not do me any harm, the way my heart was beating faster just looking at those mint green eyes. All these, made me speak a single word without even having time to think: "Okay."

From that moment on, I never once regretted that single word, said without a thought and without hesitation. And I wasn't hesitating now, either, as I watched him chuckle and extend his arm to grab my hand, and I would not hesitate ever again.

"Haha! I can feel... that you are quite similar to me. This is exciting." He said, running hand by hand with me down the stairs, to the garage, giggling like a little child and moving his mask from his face. He really did sound like he was having the time of his life.

Still, after he moved his mask away, I couldn't properly see his face, as he was running in front of me. All I could see was the top of his slightly muscular back, the little bit exposed by his falling black hoodie, moving with his laughter, his white, pinkish hair waving in the air as we ran, his toned tattooed arm that made me feel butterflies in my stomach, and the actually much gentler than expected hand that was grabbing mine, holding it tightly but not hurting.

As I admired all these particulars on his body, he kept talking for a bit: "Well, you never had a choice anyways."

God, how could someone say such threatening stuff with a smile on their face and manage to look this adorable?

 "Now let's go." he said eventually, as we reached the black car parked in the parking lot under the building. It was quite the normal car one would have, not too big, not too small, sure a car you wouldn't notice in a capital's traffic.

"I'll be nice. I'm a much better person than him" There he goes again. Who was he talking about? I was curious, but had the awful feeling I shouldn't ask. Not yet at least.

He pushed me in the car, in the backseat, quickly making sure I wouldn't be able to open the door by myself and took his seat in the driver's place.

"Normally I'd tie you up and blindfold you, just to make sure you don't know where we're going and you can't run away, but since you've been such a good girl for your new boss I guess you can have the privilege of seeing and moving."

That was the first time I actually got the courage to properly talk to him, to properly form a sentence... and it was the wrong one: "You haven't told me your name yet."

From my position in the seat behind his, I could see his back stiffen.

He got tense, his knuckles were turning white from his death grip on the steering wheel.

He gulped loudly, then said through gritted teeth: "It... it's none of your business. I'm your boss, that's all you need to know"

And like that,  the tension in the car so thick you could cut it, he drove, silently, for what felt like days, but were actually probably something like five hours.

\---

When the car finally stopped, we were in the middle of nowhere, in a wood in the mountains, and all I could see was a white castle.

A castle? How did they manage to build a castle here?

The young man got out of the car, helping me out of it and guiding me in the castle, without a single word.

He pulled me with him around the maze of rooms this gigantic building was. I had already lost the way to the outside world when he stopped in front of a door.

It was different from the others. Around the castle, everything was either white (like the walls and the doors) or mint green (like the carpets and the standards that covered the walls). It really felt as if I had jumped back in time in a medieval manor.

This door we were in front, however, was nothing like the rest of the building. A white door, like the rest here, led to what looked like a little closet, except at the very back of this tiny room, was this thick black door.

My new boss, changing attitude completely, looking way humbler than before, maybe even… scared? a bit, knocked on the door, gently, as if he was disturbing a holy ritual.

“Who’s there?” came a voice from the inside, a woman’s voice.

“It’s me, Saviour, your most faithful servant.”  Answered the boy. “I came to present you MintEye’s new member.”

“Oh, yes, come on in please, my dear”

He pushed the door open, slowly.

The room I walked in was a mess. That was the only word I could use to describe it. Clothes were laying everywhere, glasses were shuttered on the ground, the air was thick and the only light in the room came from the door we had just opened, being the windows covered by multiple layers of courtains.

And the woman. The woman was probably even messier herself.

She was sitting on her bed, her hair messy and dirty, her empty eyes were looking nowhere, staring at a spot mid-air in the direction where we came from. She was wearing a white dress with thin straps, one of which was falling from her shoulder, revealing way too much of her cleavage. Not that she cared. Or at least that’s what she looked like: like she didn’t care about her appearance, like she didn’t care a boy not too much younger than her had just walked in the room and her dress had run way too high on her legs. And by too high I mean I could clearly tell she was not wearing any underwear. She didn’t shave either, but she probably had in the past, since she had little hair on her body, and it was blond, anyway, and in the dim light you could barely see it.

“Come closer, my dear” she said when we walked in.

The boy roughly pushed me in, towards her. “She is our Saviour” he finally started explaining. “She’s the leader of this organization. She guides us, tells us what’s best for us and for the world. She makes us know ways to change the world, to make it better. Sometimes these ways may sound unorthodox, but to change the world we need sacrifices, and she understands this and make us understand too.”

As he spoke, I looked at him. He looked me straight in the eye, he was still tense, and I could tell he was trying his damnest not to look at the woman behind me. I could tell by the way he kept his eyes not only glued to mine, but unmoving, staring at a single spot, my right eye, and whenever his glare threatened to move behind me, he would clench his jaw and stare at me even harder.

I turned around, facing the wreckage that was the woman, and she smiled weakly at me, rising her gaze to finally meet my face, holding out her hand.

“I’m Rika. I’m the founder of this benevolent organization. Welcome to MintEye…”

“MC” I introduced myself.

“Oh… what a wonderful name” Rika told me. “So, you’re his new assistant? He told me he was going to use you, in one way or another. Nice to meet you”

‘So, he only wants to use me, uh? I’m definitely talking to him later’ I thought.

“He’s going to teach you what you need to know. About us, about our goals, about his work and what is going to be _your_ work. Don’t worry, behind that scary look there’s a  good boy” she finally finished, looking at him, who was still adverting his eyes.

“We-we’ll get going now, Saviour.” He stuttered eventually, after a couple of minutes of awkward silence among the three of us.

“Yes, my dear, come meet me again please.” Rika said, going back to looking at that spot mid-air.

The boy grabbed my wrist and pushed me out of the room, through the first door and back in the corridor.

When we were back in the light he took a deep breath of relief.

“Come, I’ll show you your room. It’s late, you should just go to sleep for now, I’ll explain everything you need to know tomorrow.”

We walked through that maze again, through rooms and corridors and up and down stairs that never seemed to end.

“That” he said at some point, pointing to a door that looked just like all the others, “is my office. We’ll meet there tomorrow morning at 9.00. You’d better be on time. I won’t wake you up. I want you there ready to start the day, washed and dressed. We’ll eat breakfast together for the first days, until you learn your way to the kitchen. And this” we walked until a couple of doors ahead “is your room. Enjoy.”

He opened the door with a key, letting go of my arm and walking away towards his office.

“Hey! Wait!” I called, running to him.

“What?” he answered rudely.

“Do I even have a key to my room? How many people live here?” I asked, a bit pissed at the lack of information and introducing to apparently my new home. “Will my parents even know I’ll live here?”

“You. Ask. Too. Many. Questions.” He said, walking towards me, a word for each step he took, till I , who had started walking backwards as he was already pretty close to me, hit the wall with my back. “I already told you, I’ll explain tomorrow. Now get off my way and get to your goddamn room. I don’t want to see your face until tomorrow morning.”

I was shocked. When we met earlier that morning he looked like this was the happiest day of his life. And now? Now he was _growling_ at me not to bother him anymore.

I looked down and walked away, towards the only open door in the long white corridor.

“And yes.” He said when I was almost inside, “There’s a key on your drawer”

After that, I only heard a door shutting, and knew I would be alone till the following day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the weirdest freaking thing was writing Rika saying "What a beautiful name" after hearing "My name's MC" I mean, that's not even a name XD anyway, hope you liked the first chapter :)


	2. Welcome To MintEye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya everyone. I'm finally back with a new chapter, but you should know this is quite a busy year for me in school, so I won't be able to update much. Also I'll be kinda slow with this fic anyway, cause I want to play Yoosung's route again so I can write what exactly happens without making things up, but I won't have time to do that in a while, at least until July. There's still a lot of time before I'll talk about Yoosung's route anyway, so I might be able to update from time to time.
> 
> Okay, now that I'm done excusing myself, enjoy the new chapter.

The room was huge, as expected. The looks of the building had me feeling like I was in a fairytale and my room for sure didn't disappoint. The biggest bed I had ever seen was in front of me, with white and aqua blue covers and drapes. Looking around, it really did look like a room belonging to a Disney princess, with a big mirror on a wall, windows with heavy curtains, an enormous white wardrobe and one of those little tables, the ones you see in movies with a mirror where ladies in ancient times used to get their make up on, in a corner. There was a little private bathroom too.

The room sure was luxurious.

After looking around for a bit, I sat down on the bed.

It had been such a weird day.

'I think way to much about others. If I hadn't answered that unknown message I wouldn't be here' I thought.

But maybe it wasn't so bad. I had a new super fancy house, free food and, most important, a super hot new boss.

I did want to know more about him. He was an odd person

I picked up my phone from my pocket, quickly texting my parents. I had moved to Korea not too long ago, after graduating high school to study and work. I had rented an house and was looking or a job. I would call my parents every day, but I didn't know how things would change now.

'Stuff happened, I changed house and found a job, but I don't know when I'll be able to hear you. Love you, I'll call asap' I texted them.

Of course my mum would call me.

She wanted explanation, but I felt I couldn't tell them the truth.

"Oh yeah, a stranger texted me and tricked me into intruding someone else's house, but when I refused he forced me to become his assistant and now I work for him and I joined what looks like a cult. But everything's fine don't worry"  


Yeah, I couldn't say that.  


"Hey mum" I answered when I picked up.  


"Hey. Is everything alright? What happened?"  


“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry. It’s just I found a job and they’re giving me a room in their headquarters. I think I’ll be a bit busy, that’s why I said that” Well, it wasn’t a lie.  


“Oh, then I guess that’s good. What kinda job is it?”  


“Actually, I haven’t started yet, so I can’t be sure. I’ll be some guy’s assistant, so I’ll probably be bringing him coffee and emails and stuff”  


“Is it a big company?”  


“Seems to be, yeah. But enough talking about me. How are you doing?”  


“Just the same. Work’s stressful, dad has a bit of a fever, but except for that we’re doing good. We miss you”  


“I miss you too”  


We kept talking for a little while, before I looked at the clock.  
11.26pm.  


I hadn’t even had dinner.  


I said goodbye to my parents and decided to go to sleep.  


I had to wake up early the following day and it was way too soon to be going around alone. I’d surely get lost.  


I was asleep in no time and slept a dreamless sleep.  


When I woke up the following day, I had forgotten about everything that had happened the day before for a little while.  


I was confused as to why I was in an unknown room and had to wake up at this time.  


Then I remembered. I got up, walked in the bathroom and washed, dressing up in the same clothes as the day before. I hadn’t brought with me any other clothes after all.  


I got out of the room at 8.50 and walked towards the door I thought to be the one of the guy’s office and knocked softly.  


He just answered with a monotone “Come in”  


I slowly opened the door.  


“Close it” he said, and I pushed the door shut.  


The room was dark, the only lights coming from the three screens on the desk the boy was sitting at.  


He spun his chair and looked at me.  


“You looked better yesterday” he commented.  


I felt my blood boiling in my veins as the anger built up.  


“Well, sorry. I don’t have any clothes nor make up. Deodorant neither. Thanks for the soap though”  


His glare on me softened.  


“Alright, alright, I'm going to get you something later, okay? I’m kinda busy though. Let’s have breakfast.”  


We walked around together again. He seemed to be in a better mood than the previous day, so I tried starting a little conversation.  


“I’m gonna get lost here.” I said lightly, chuckling a bit.  


He smiled. “You’re gonna get used to it pretty quickly, don’t worry.”  


I had so many questions. Who was he? What was his name? How old was he? Why was he here? How long had he been here?  


But I didn’t want to ruin his mood like I had done the day before, so I choose to ask: “So, what will my task be?”  


“I’m an hacker. I will be spending a lot of time in front of those computers you saw earlier. I’ll be needing you to do different stuff. From going shopping for me to cleaning my room. You’re my assistant, you just have to do what I say.”  


With that, he stopped in front of a big door.  


When he pushed it open, I peeked inside.  


The huge room had many long tables with hundreds of chairs. Just how many people lived here?  


Some of the chairs were filled, people eating their breakfast alone or talking to someone else. They seemed so calm, like that was just their routine. And it probably was.  


In a corner of the room was a little kitchen, with a stove, a fridge and a microwave.  


“Sit here, I’ll bring you something to eat. What do you want?” He told me. I didn’t know him that well, but from the feeling I had got of him the previous day, I wasn’t expecting him to be asking my opinion. Well, I wasn’t expecting him to bring me food. I guess I had had the wrong feeling.  


“Do you guys have milk?” I asked  


“Yeah”  


“Then that’s fine”  


He walked away and I sat down on the closest empty chair.  


The boy came back some time later, with a single tray and two bowls of milk.  


“Alright” he started after a little while, taking a deep breath “I guess you deserve some kind of explaination. My name’s Saeran. I’m 22. I joined here… well, so long ago I almost don’t remember my life before MintEye. I think, except for that guy, I’ve known the Saviour the longest here. Do you have something to ask?”  


“Just… why am I here?”  


He forrowed his brows, “You’re my assistant, I thought that was clear.”  


“No, yeah, okay. I mean, why did you choose me?”  


“You were just the perfect little bait for my plan.”  


“What plan?”  


Saeran didn’t answer. He looked at me for a bit. My glance didn’t falter.  


He sighed loudly and stood up.  


“Let’s go back. I have work to do.”  


He just grabbed his tray and it back with the others, than walked past me and towards the exit, sure I’d follow him.  


‘What if I didn’t though? What if I stayed here?” I thought.  


I never understood this kind of scenes in movies. One could choose not to follow the other right?  


In my case, I noticed, I would get lost in no time in this big mansion, so I chose to catch up with him as quickly as I could.  


When we arrived back at his office, he just sat down and started typing on his keyboards.  


“Excuse me?” I called, trying to grab his attention.  


“I’m not answering. I’ll tell you when it’s the right moment.” He said, without taking his eyes off the screens.  


“Alright.” I sighed, sitting down on a chair near his. “Can I ask one last question?”  


“If it’s not about nosy stuff in the organization’s business…”  


“How are you sure I won’t leave?”  


He finally looked at me for the first time since we were in that cafeteria.  


“How do you know the first moment you’ll let me go wherever I want I won’t just flee?” I added.  


“You won’t. I know you won’t.” With those words, a wide grin appeared on his face. “You like me too much to do anything that would harm me.”  


I blushed hard. Was it that obvious?  


He looked back at his screens.  


“Don’t worry, I knew from the first moment you saw me. But you don’t know me enough to like me. You should be careful who you land your eyes on. There’s some dangerous people out there you know?”  


His grin slowly faded as, with these last words, his eyes landed on a screen. It didn’t show anything, just a small empty apartment. The screen showed four camera footings, like the ones you see for security cameras in movies. The top two screens looked frozen. One showed a bedroom, the other showed the rest of the flat. The bottom two showed the door from the outside and the stairs nearby. In both, from time to time, people walked by.  


The inside of the building looked oddly familiar.  


“Is that-“ I started.  


“Shut up” he cut me off.  


And like that, in awkward silence, Saeran worked on his screens, while I just sat there, looking around and trying not to be curious.  


“I’m hungry” he said at some point.  


In that utter silence we had been in for the past three hours, only broken by the typing on his keyboards and his clicking on his mouse, that simple sound startled me.  


“Uhm…” What a smart answer. Nice job.  


“Can you go back to the kitchen or will you get lost?”  


“I… I’ll try. What do you want me to bring you?”  


“Coffee and cookies.”  


That sure surprised me. Cookies? This boy who was all about being an hacker and being dangerous and could probably kill me any moment… was asking for cookies?  


I just nodded and walked out, trying my best to remember the way.  


Getting to the room took me probably twice the time it had taken this morning, but I somehow managed to arrive.  


I prepared the stuff Saeran had asked and walked back.  


“God, just how long do you think I was supposed to wait?”  


“Sorry” I answered, handing him the cup of coffee and the bag of cookies.  


He looked at me with a weird expression, like I had just said something strange.  


“What?” I asked.  


He just shrugged and and turned back.  


I sat back on my chair, slipping into that awkward silence again.  


\---  


The next day, I heard a loud knocking on the door even before the alarm rang. I jumped on the bed when I was suddenly awakened. My heart was pounding loudly in my chest.  


I opened the door and found Saeran in front of it.  


“Just how gentle can you be?” I asked him, sarcastic and angry. “You scared the shit out of me. What time is it?”  


“6.30. I forgot to tell you yesterday, but you have to get ready as quick as you can. We have an appointment.”  


I looked at him, confused.  


“Move!” He yelled.  


For the second time in less than 2 minutes, I jumped, scared.  


I turned around and closed the door behind me, walking to the bathroom, wondering just what was that guy’s problem.  


When I walked in his office, meeting him again after no longer than half an hour later, he was sitting on his chair in front of his computers again.  


“I’m here” I said softly.  


This room was always filled with a thick silence, and I felt like something would break if I just talked to loudly.  


He spun his chair. “Good.”  


Saeran stood up, walking past me once again, expecting me to follow him.  


And this time I did, without thinking too much.  


We walked to a small room in the basement.  


Saeran knocked and opened the door. “We’re here” he announced.  


As much as I wished it didn’t, the room just looked like a tattoo studio. The chair in the middle of the room, the tools on the side of it. The only different thing was that tattoo artists have pictures of their works all over the place, while these walls were empty. No sign of drawings or photos anywhere.  


“Just sit down” Saeran told me.  


I looked at him, worried. “What?”  


“This, here,” he said, pointing at the tattoo on his arm. “You’re getting one too.”  


“What if I don’t want to?”  


“You have no choice anyway. I think I told you a couple days ago, you never had a choice. It’s a symbol, so you’re getting it.”  


“Alright.” I sighed, sitting down.  


I had never been against tattoos, and his looked pretty cool, so this whole thing wasn’t really a problem. I just wasn’t ready to get a tattoo now, but like Saeran said, I didn’t have a choice at this point.  


The drawing was big, the lines thick. It took many hours to get it done, but surprisingly, the whole time, Saeran sat next to me, watching me, with his arms folded to his chest, and I noticed, from time to time, when I twitched a bit more for the pain, his hands would twitch too, as if he wanted to do something but was trying his best to hold back.  


When we were done, we left, and walked back to his office.  


“Are you sore?” He asked me at one point.  


“I’m fine.” I answered. I wanted to thank him, to tell him he shouldn’t worry, but was he really worrying about me or was he just being polite? Either way, “thank you.” I said.  


“What for?”  


Okay, that wasn’t what I expected.  


“For asking, I guess.”  


We sat, like the day before, in his room, in that awkward silence, till dinner, when we went back and ate together.  


\---  


Many days passed like that first one. I’d wake up and meet with him at around 9 am, have breakfast together, then went back to his office, where he’d work countless hours in the dark, the room only lit by the enormous screens, and I’d just sit there, only getting up when he’d ask me for something. He rarely had a proper lunch, but would let me have one, asking to bring him something to eat. Every other day, he would train for a couple of hours in the small gym in the basement of the building.  


Something changed only twice in what probably was two weeks. The first was when, after three or four days, I first left the huge castle that was MintEye’s headquarters. He had asked me to get him liquorice. By that time I wasn’t surpised anymore when this “scary” boy (at least he thought he was) asked me for sweets to eat when he wanted a snack.  


That day, though, I couldn’t find what he wanted anywhere.  


So I just went back to his office.  


“There isn’t any.” I told him.  


He took a deep breath, standing up. “Alright, we have to go buy it ourselves. Just, learn your way from and to the castle, so I don’t have to waste anymore time carrying you around in these occasions.”  


And like that, we left.  


The other, was some time later. I had noticed that, as the days went by, Saeran was more nervous, he’d get angry more easily, he’d get startled by the tiniest noises, he’d ask for more sweets and he’d train more.  


That day, I understood why. Not completely, but I had a little hint.  


It was around four in the afternoon, when someone knocked the door.  


I saw Saeran’s shoulders tensing up as he stood and walked to the door.  


When he opened, a guy stood in front of it. “The Saviour wants you.” He just said.  


Saeran nodded, looking back at me just to say: “This might take up to two or three hours. When I’m gone, don’t touch anything. When I’m back, don’t ask questions. I might be nervous, especially if it takes too long.” Then he left.  


I just stayed there. I wanted to leave, to go back to my room, but decided not to, since, if when Saeran would be back, I wasn’t there, he would most likely get mad at me. And even if I had yet to see him truly mad, I didn’t want to upset him.  


So I just stayed in his office, doing nothing.  


He was actually back pretty quickly. About one hour later. But he was wrecked.  


His hair was a mess, his face red and sweaty, his eyes redder. His clothes were the only thing about him that looked fine.  


My heart hurt seeing him like that. It looked like he had been through something terrible, but I couldn’t quite say what it could be.  


He heavily sat down on the chair, going back to work without a word.  


After a couple moments he told me, his voice raspy: “Could you leave me alone for a bit please?”  


It was the first time he had said “please” when asking me for something.  


So I left. I stayed outside his door for a second, wondering just what could have happened. And I heard sobs from inside the room.  


Was he crying?  


Just what had happened?  


I felt my anger building up in my guts. Was that woman hurting him?  


I couldn’t ask questions, but I was sure it was just for that moment. Some time later, I probably would be able to ask without enraging him.  


Some other time passed, he wasn’t as nervous as he was the weeks before, but the summoning from the Saviour became more frequent, going from hearing a knocking every once in a while, to it being every day. And the longer Saeran would be away, the more nervous he’d be when he’d come back and the more wrecked he’d be. Every time, he would ask for me to leave for a couple of hours. Every time I would just stay outside his door, hearing him cry and getting more and more angry at Rika.  


One day, when I entered his office in the morning, I found him looking at me. He was waiting for me.  


“As you might have noticed, it’s quite a tough period for our Saviour, and she needs me more often. Therefore, I’m getting done less and less of the work I’m supposed to do. So now, from now on, I need you to learn to hack and to train like I do, so you’ll be able to substitute me”  


And with that, my official training in MintEye started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, for the sake of the story, I changed up a bit the layout of Rika's apartment, hope that won't bother you.  
> Also wow, that's the first time I manage to write a 3k words long chapter.  
> It took a while to write this, I hope it was worth it


	3. Clarifications

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: (maybe not but you never know) this chapter might be kinda triggering for abuse/rape victims. Though, since it's not like it's the WHOLE chapter and there's other important stuff in here, I'll make sure to say where the triggering part is, so that you can skip just that bit and read the rest.

Saeran sure was a strict teacher.

Just asking him to repeat himself once would put him in a bad mood and, well, a regular person just needed to have stuff repeated with the way he explained.

He spoke fast, as if I was an informatics graduate or a military recruit.

_And I wasn’t._

He couldn’t just expect me to know already by heart the basic characters, letters and numbers, in binary code, or to be able to do a hundred push ups on our first day training, and even less to learn the freaking Morse code overnight.

The training itself didn’t change much in our routines. He would still do his job, only explaining out loud what he was doing too, or work out, except I was right next to him now.

That was, though, when he was actually able to do something.

Every day, at around four in the afternoon, someone, and it was always a different person, would come call him for his now daily meetings with Rika.

Oh, how was I starting to hate that woman.

I didn’t know what was going on, but it was almost as if she was torturing him, and I was constantly asking myself why he was still agreeing to this.

By now, it had been more than three months since I had joined MintEye, and around two since I had started this exhausting training.

“So, Saeran…” I started one day, while working next to him in his dark office.

“Listen, just how many times have I told you we’re NOT that close. You can’t just call me by my name, I’m still your boss. So it’s ‘Boss’ for you… or ‘Sir’.” He added smirking. What was he smirking about, that little…?

“So, _Boss_ ” I corrected myself, “While you were… out… yesterday, I really couldn’t help but thinking about those screens over there. Don’t you think it’s about time I know what’s going on?”

He narrowed his eyes.

In these last months our relationship had gotten better. I wouldn’t have dared asking something like this, or even with such a tone, in the first days I was here. But somehow we had gotten closer, more friendly with each other, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

“You really… it’s a LONG story okay? And to be honest I’m not really feeling like telling it. For now, just know it’s related to the Savior’s past life. She asked me to do something for her. Let’s make a deal, yeah? The first day she’s not asking for me, I won’t work, and tell you the whole plan. I’ll just take a day off, okay?”

“Okay?” I answered, a bit disappointed.

Just how could he know when that day would come? She always asked for Saeran in the afternoon, so, to know that she wouldn’t be doing that, he should’ve waited until night. What kind of day off was that?

Despite this, the perfect occasion came just a couple days later.

When Saeran had come back to his office from his encounter with “the Savior”, he had rudely told me to “just piss off already” but something in his tone had told me he was at least relieved for something.

And the following day, when I came to his office, he wasn’t there, so I shyly knocked on his door.

I had never been in his room before. I was nervous, but I didn’t quite know why. Or maybe I did? Yeah, it was probably because of this huge crush I had always had for him.

Anyway, from his room, no answer came.

So I decided to look around the castle for him. Because of how big the building was, though, I was sure I’d miss him anyway. I could just picture one of those Scooby Doo like scenes where I would go in a room, wouldn’t find him, go to another room and he would enter the first one I was in, so we’d never meet each other.

Of course I didn’t check every room in the mansion, most of them were private bedrooms anyway. But I did check, actually, I double checked, every room where thought I could find him: the gym, the cafeteria, his office (maybe he had gone there at some point?). Each one I could think about, except Rika’s room, but I prayed he wouldn’t be in there.

Exhausted from having run up and down many flights of stairs for almost an hour, I went back and checked the last room I could think about. I had already knocked, but only once, so I tried again.

This time, from behind his bedroom door, a little “Comin’” came.

He opened the door in a condition I had never seen him in.

His hair was messy and his eyes puffy, but in a much more positive way than every time I had seen him like this. Saeran only looked like that when he came back from Rika’s room, but this time, he was definitely more relaxed.

He was clearly still wearing his pajamas (matching blue sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt) and was rubbing his eyes lazily.

“Did you just wake up?!” I asked, a bit shocked.

“Whatcha yelling for?” He asked, grumpily, with an husky voice I had never heard coming from him, furrowing his brows and slurring his words a bit. “Yeah. Ya need something?”

“I…” I felt a wave of relief wash through me. He was alright. He was just sleeping. I hadn’t even noticed I was this worried till I was able to take a deep breath. “It’s nothing. I came to your office but you weren’t there. Are you okay?”

“I was until you woke me up.” Oh, he was starting to wake up.

“No work today?”

“No, you’re free. Do what you want, go where you want.”

I looked at him without answering. Then it hit me.

“Day off?” I asked, smirking, satisfied that I would finally get some answers.

He looked confused. “Yeah? Why do keep asking? Are you so dumb you can’t even understand such a simple concept?”

I placed my hands on my hips. Still smiling I said: “You promised the first day off you had you would tell me what the hell was going on in the first place when I came here. And now you have to tell me at least that.”

He sighed. “God… alright. Let me at least wash and put on something. Come here in half an hour.”

I was able to stop him before he shut the door in my face, holding a hand out and blocking the door. At least his training had made me stronger, strong enough to resist him at least a bit.

“Will we be having breakfast together?” I asked him.

He sighed again. “Fine.”

I happily jogged to my room, finally having a little time for myself, and lied on the bed, scrolling through Tumblr and just relaxing.

I had lost track of time when I heard a knock on the door.

When I opened it, Saeran glared at me. He probably was going to say something like: “I asked you to come to my room ten minutes ago, why did you make me wait?” but I anticipated him, smiling widely and telling him: “Sorry, I hadn’t seen what time it was. Shall we go?”

His hard stare quickly changed to a shocked expression as I spoke, and as I pushed him to the side to get out of my room.

All I heard was him whispering a “What the…” before following right after me.

As we were having breakfast, I didn’t ask any important questions. I knew he probably wouldn’t answer in such a crowded room. We talked more about the littlest thing, like how useful his training was turning out to be or what I had to learn next for his “hacking class”.

When we were done and we returned to his room, though, the real talk started.

His room was much simpler than mine.

If I had a princess’s room, he had more of a servant’s room: all he had in there was a wooden wardrobe which wasn’t exactly small, but definitely wasn’t big enough to hold all of my clothes for example, and a small bed for no more than a person, covered in green sheets.

We sat down on the bed, and as I was still looking around, surprised that his room could be so different from mine, he simply said: “Yeah, it’s nothing special, but it’s not like I’m here much anyway”

That snapped me out of my thoughts, and that’s when my curiosity took over me and I started asking questions.

“Let’s start easy, shall we?” I started. “Those freaking screens I’ve been trying to ask you about for months now. Explain”

He glared at me like he was gonna kill me. “You think that’s how you should talk to-“

“Come on Bosssss” I whined. I really wasn’t gonna have any of that today.

Me calling him “Boss” instead of “Saeran” was probably what did it.

He took a deep breath and started: “Our Savior is the founder of a fundraising association. She was engaged with a man she had put at the head of this organization. Except at some point, he started lying to her and bringing her despair. So she left and founded Mint Eye. She brought me with her and gave me a reason to be alive. Now, this is where you and those screens come in action. Remember how we met?”

I nodded.

“That app hadn’t casually come up in your store as a game. I put it there so you would download it. And you were dumb enough to actually do it” he smirked.

I rolled my eyes. “I never regretted downloading it, so how am I dumb?”

“That makes you even dumber: it brought you to me, it brought you into hell” he answered, his grin widening.

“Nah, I’m good, I’m happy I’m here” I said.

He looked at me with a puzzled expression. “Anyway…” he continued. “That was no game. That was the strictly private messenger of our Savior’s association. I had hacked into it and you were gonna be our bait.”

“So I ruined your mission”

“Exactly. Our Savior has been in a bad mood for weeks after that…” he lowered his gaze and whispered to himself: “And I was the one who had to pay”

With how he had changed the tone in his voice, I figured this wasn’t a topic he wanted to face just yet, so, after a moment of silence, I went back to the main one, thinking of a way to ask about this later: “So, what was this mission about?”

“The destruction of the RFA.”

“RFA?” I asked.

“The fundraising association.”

“Oh, okay. And what was the plan?”

“You were going to infiltrate the RFA and work in the Savior’s place. She used to organize the fundraising parties the association held. And little by little, as you got closer to the members and organized the party, we would steal the classified information of the party guests and bring despair upon the ones who used to call themselves the Savior’s friends. Especially, we had a particular treatment reserved for two of them.”

“Wha… what kinda treatment?” I asked, stuttering mostly out of curiosity.

“A fate worse than death” was Saeran’s monotone answer.

He looked at me, like he was daring me to ask more questions.

I decided to drop the treatment topic and just went with: “What about those screens? Whose house is that?”

“That’s the Savior’s apartment where she used to live at the times of the association. You were supposed to stay there for as long as the mission was going on.”

“And what, you were supposed to stalk me?” I asked chuckling lightly.

“ _To keep an eye on you_ , yeah.” He corrected me, rolling his eyes. “Some day we’ll have to go back to this mission. It would’ve worked more easily if you were completely ignorant on the matter, but if you’re an actress good enough it’ll work anyway.”

I simply nodded. I couldn’t think about anything else to ask, so we just sat there in silent for a little while.

I stared at him. I was getting used to this, but he was truly handsome, and the more I looked at him, the more I liked him.

After staying like that for some minutes, Saeran and I were slowly slipping in a definitely awkward silence, the one that makes you desperately want to say something.

 

**TRIGGER START**

I sighed deeply. This was the time. This was probably the only moment he would answer this question.

“Saeran” I started, trying to sound as calm as possible, despite feeling my anger build up as I tried to find the words. “What’s going on with Rika?”

His eyes widened, but I wasn’t quite sure if he was because of anger, for me having the guts of asking something like this, shock, for the unexpected question, or fear, for whatever Rika was doing to him.

“What _our Savior_ does is not for us to decide or judge.”

I took another deep breath to calm down.

“Listen, _Boss_. Whatever she’s doing to you, it’s making me feel miserable. I wanna know what THE FUCK is going on.” I said, stressing the words to let Saeran know that I wasn’t quite as calm as I showed myself to be.

“And why should I tell you?”

“You are my boss, I care about you, I want you to be okay, I want you to trust me, I want you to know you have someone you can talk to anytime. And above all, I don’t want to see you suffer without being able to do anything.”

He stared at me for what felt like hour, but was probably mere seconds.

Then he shakily took a deep breath and started: “Our Savior… she has some problems. I hope she’ll never hear me saying this or else… it might be worse… I think… I think I should start from the beginning. She founded Mint Eye about two years ago. She brought me here from the very beginning, I was her first believer. At first, the only pain she’d give me, was the one that followed the cleansing ceremony. It was unbearable, but I learnt to take it. It still hurt, but after a while, I learnt not to complain about it. I still have to take the elixir every day, and it still hurts a lot. But… as time went by, she got worse. I always trusted our Savior and I always accepted the pain she’d give me. It was probably because I stopped complaining that this started. She was unhappy with me trying to stay composed, so she probably decided she should hurt me in some other ways. So…one day… after I took the elixir… as usual I was exhausted, in pain, and couldn’t quite resist… so she… she…”

His voice was getting smaller, he was no longer looking at me as he spoke.

“She… took… she took advantage of me, she…”

His voice was cracking. I could hear it, and it broke my heart: he was on the verge of tears.

“I couldn’t resist… I was too weak… I didn’t want to… I didn’t want it… I hated it…” it felt like he was talking to himself. I could now clearly see the tears running down his cheeks. “But apparently she didn’t. Since that time… she’s been doing the awfullest things to me…”

He took a deep breath, trying to steady is voice. “She experiments with me, I guess. She makes me take the elixir so I’ll be too weak to fight back, then she might tie me up and just use my body as she pleases. She not always does. When she doesn’t, it’s over pretty quickly: she’ll use me to please herself, until” he swallowed thickly, as if about to say something he was scared of… or unused to say. “…until she c-comes. But when she does tie me up, she’ll be keeping me there for hours, bringing me to the edge until I’m crying from the pain, never quite letting me finish, and when I do, she’ll keep going, again, and again, and again, till every nerve in my body is on fire and I’m screaming because of how much it hurts. I’ll be begging for her to stop, but that will just fuel her amusement. That’s when it’s “normal”. Other times she might hurt me in other ways: she’ll hit me, burn me, cut me, abusing every inch of me, every part, every… hole...”

At this point, he was sobbing, hiccuping and overall crying desperately, trying to speak through the tears. I knew the dread of being almost attacked, but I couldn’t imagine how terrifying it must be to be hurt and raped every day, again and again, for years.

“It’s painful… and embarrassing… and I can’t take it anymore” he finished, crying like he hadn’t done so in so long he was letting out everything at once.

Now I understood. I understood why he was always in such a terrible mood when he had to meet her and when he came back. I understood why he flinched away every time I brushed my hand against his skin. I understood why he always tried to avoid the topic of love. I mean, a guy in his early twenties will talk about love and sex quite often, but he never did, and when I did, making jokes and such, he’d always face the other way and never answer. I had always assumed it was because he was inexperienced, but it was now clear I had made so many mistakes without being aware of it.

** TRIGGER END **

 

I looked at him. He was curled up in a ball, shaking and crying.

I knew it probably wasn’t the best idea, but I couldn’t think about anything else, so I hugged him tightly.

Weirdly enough, after a first moment when he jumped, scared and surprised, he hugged me back.

I let him lie down on the bed and, despite the bed being relatively small, I was able to lie next to him.

We likely lied next to each other for an hour, maybe more, in silence, the only sound being Saeran’s sobbing.

Then, as he calmed down a bit, he said, out of breath: “I’m exhausted. Sing me to sleep”

“I can’t sing though” I answered.

“I don’t care.”

“Al-alright”

As I looked at him, only one song came in my mind, so I started singing, while slowly brushing his hair away from his face, an old habit I had since I was little, something my mum would do to make me relax.

“ _Late at night I could hear the crying_  
_I hear it all, trying to fall asleep_  
_When all the love around you is dying_  
_How do you stay so strong?_  
_How did you hide it all for so long?_  
_How can I take the pain away?_  
_How can I save_  
_A fallen angel, in the dark_  
_Never thought you'd fall so far_  
_Fallen angel, close your eyes_  
_I won't let you fall tonight_  
_Fallen angel_  
_You do it all for my own protection_  
_You make me feel like I'll be okay_  
_Still I have so many questions_  
_How do you stay so strong?_  
_How did you hide it all for so long?_  
_How can I take the pain away?_  
_How can I save,_  
_A fallen angel, in the dark_  
_Never thought you'd fall so far_  
_Fallen angel, close your eyes_  
_I won't let you fall tonight_  
_Fallen angel, just let go_  
_You don't have to be alone_  
_Fallen angel, close your eyes_  
_I won't let you fall tonight"_

I could feel the tears stinging my eyes, the knot in my throat growing as I felt like crying more and more.

I swallowed it all, trying to regain my voice to finish the song.

_"I was right beside you_  
_When you went to hell and back again_  
_I was right beside you_  
_When you went to hell and back again_  
_And I, I couldn't save, a fallen angel_  
_A fallen angel, in the dark_  
_Never thought you'd fall so far_  
_Fallen angel, close your eyes_  
_I won't let you fall tonight_  
_Fallen angel, just let go_  
_You don't have to be alone_  
_Fallen angel, close your eyes_  
_I won't let you fall tonight_  
_Fallen angel”_

As I sang, miraculously being able to turn a metal song into somewhat of a lullaby, I saw the remnants of warm tears stream down Saeran’s face.

About midway into the song, I felt his breath steady, I saw the tears stop running and his face relaxing.

When I was done, I noticed how his breathing had become regular and slow, so I knew he had fallen asleep.

Now, what was I supposed to do? Should I have left?

I decided to go the most selfish way: I kissed his forehead and lied my head on his chest, being lulled by his heartbeat to sleep.

I breathed out a little “I love you” as I drifted to the land of dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, chapter three and finally some stuff is explained.  
> Make sure to check out Three Days Grace's song (Fallen Angel) cause it's freaking great and... I'm thinking about changing the title of the fic to Fallen Angels, what do you think?  
> Little previews: next chapter we'll have the romance start, chapter 5 will finally have some smut


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